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On the 'things don't last as long as they used to' front:

I'm really into mechanical and older cameras. They last forever, they don't need batteries.

Having those cameras also mean having contacts with people who keep these cameras going. I talk to a very old Japanese man in Georgia about my Yashica; older people going into nursing homes have sent me their cameras so I can keep using them.

I really enjoy this aspect of mechanical cameras. If it doesn't work, open it up.

i have a collection of cameras that people have given me because they know i love this stuff. it gives me an insight into some of their lives and families.

a friend's father used to be the photographer for indian national tv, and he gave me his stuff. he's very excited to know that i'm still using the cameras that he took to photograph various conflicts.

some friends have given me their parents' cameras after they passed. honestly i have too many cameras at this point, but i love it.

the camera in my profile pic is from the 1950s. i've had it since the early 2000s, when a boy i knew in high school started buying beat up leicas to teach himself how to repair them. he let me have one for cheap.

i expect it'll outlast me and i'm going to have to write it into my will to bequeath it to some future mini me who is going to really want a 100+ year old camera.

Even though cameras are just tools, in service of photography and story-telling, I feel that the form of the tool sometimes impacts the story and the conversations and interactions have that shape the story.

I’m never interested in a photo just for ‘technically perfect’. Super crisp, sharp especially digital photos feel soulless to me.

When I have my Yashica TLR, people want to tell me how they had one. Then they ask me to take a photo of them.

My silly / cute Hasselblad contraption with a Instax back has stopped people in their tracks. They all want to know what it is. Then they want a photo. Then I give it to them.

A few weekends ago, an immigrant dad shyly asked me for a Instax photo so he could have a pic of his daughter, who was going to leave. He wouldn’t see her for a while. Being able to take that pic and give it to them felt so different. Different camera, different stories.

Adrianna Tan

I’m also into developing and printing my film in a darkroom. It feels excessive sometimes, but more and more, I really want to be able to make things with my hands.

@skinnylatte This is what keeps me thinking about trying to get back into metalwork - forging and welding. But mostly forging.

I did a course about 20 years ago, and really enjoyed the way you can make and reshape your own tools to suit the job.

Also, powerhammer go BAM BAM BAM :)

@skinnylatte That looks fantastic!
OK, I need to find a place here.

@skinnylatte I’ve alway loved Dianna Bloomfield’s handmade photographs. Her color gum bichromate work is too gorgeous dhbloomfield.com/the-old-garde and then her polymer photogravure monochrome work

dh bloomfield photography The Old Garden — dh bloomfield photography

@skinnylatte I’m finally doing this! Taking 4 months of classes starting this week. Just B&W but he can do 4x5 as well as 35mm. Really stoked.

@skinnylatte there's something visceral about it. I know how you feel